Run For The Fallen

The Premise: http://www.runforthefallen.org/

The Challenge: Starting on June 14 (Flag Day), each board member who participates adopts a soldier and walks or runs a mile for that soldier. Then, come online to the thread and post a paragraph or two about that soldier. It's your job to do the research.

Here are the soldiers: http://www.flickr.com/photos/runforthefallen/sets

This is a 69-day challenge. Like the soldiers who fought and continue to fight, there are no days off.

As you'll see from the Flickr page, the soldiers are divided into groups by day, starting with Day 1 on June 14. There are an average of 60 soldiers per group.

We have a week to fill our roster. If you want to participate, just drop me a PM. Some days, we'll need more than 60 participants. If you prefer to be a high number and participate only a few days a week, make that notation. I'll assign numbers on June 13 using the Flickr photo sets. We'll go alphabetically according to soldiers' names. That's how it's set up on Flickr. So the first soldier to be honored is Maj. Jay T. Aubin, Waterville, Maine. He was married with two children. Maj. Aubin was known to fellow soldiers as Sweet Pea and was the first American killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He died in a helicopter crash on the Kuwaiti border. He was 36.

I'll adopt Maj. Aubin and assume position No. 1.

If someone has a suggestion for donations to families or organizations helping soldiers, go ahead and post something. I don't expect everyone to donate, but it'd be a nice gesture to the men and women who gave their lives for their country. I don't care how you do it. You might get people at the office to contribute a dollar a mile. Or you might just throw a few dollars in an envelope.